7. Grill N Chill

It’s no secret to folks who have been reading for a while that I love gadgets that serve multiple functions. I love it when the car packs a blender, or when the vacuum can send text messages, or when the refrigerator can show videos. And that’s why the Grill N Chill got my attention. One side of the Grill N Chill offers a two-layer grilling surface, while the other side offers up a draft system for hooking it into a keg. Grilled meat and draft beer in one place? How can that be better? How about they throw in a stereo? Now you can listen to some music, or the pregame show, whilst grilling meat and handing out beer. And that multifunctional joy makes this well worth looking into.

6. Cruzin Cooler

A great one for warmer environs where you can have part of your Super Bowl party outdoors, the Cruzin Cooler is again one of those great multi-function gadgets that I’m so enamored with. This time, they’ve figured out a way to combine a cooler and a scooter into one package, and yes, include an electric motor. You’ll be able to cruise around your party riding a beer cooler, and can pass out your payload at will, preferably before you’re the one passing out. Spectacularly awesome no matter how you slice it, but of course, drinking and driving is never recommended, as at least one operator discovered when he got a DWI charge for riding one of these around while drinking.

5. BeerTender

No multifunction gadgetry here, folks, but what this will do for your Super Bowl party cannot be expressed fully in mere words. See, sometimes, you want a keg, or you want draft beer, but you can’t get hands on one. Well, if you can get Heineken or Newcastle draught kegs, then you can get the BeerTender involved. The BeerTender will keep your beer at a constant 37.4 degrees, and keep said beer not only cold but also fresh for the almost disturbingly long time frame of 30 days.

4. The Grill Sergeant Apron

While it’s entirely possible to grill without the benefit of an apron, adding an apron to your grilling experience gives you the ability to carry a whole lot of extras: condiments, implements, and the like. But the Grill Sergeant Apron will not only allow for these things to be held, and in large quantities, but you’ll also get a bandolier of canister-sized holders to wear across your chest, capable of holding a full six-pack of your canned beverage of choice. And the whole thing comes your way in a jungle camo pattern, so when you need to storm the beach head that is your grill, the Grill Sergeant is ready to cover your six.

3. Blacktop 360 Grill

Sure, we just recommended a grill, and a magnificent one too, but this grill will actually take grilling up a notch even over the Grill N Chill. Not only is the Blacktop portable, but it can handle a variety of things that the Grill N Chill won’t. See, not only does this grill meat at temperatures of up to 650 degrees on an infrared grill, but it also offers up a flat griddle, a warming plate for buns and the like, but at the center of it all lurks a 20 ounce deep fryer. Thus, you can grill burgers, toast buns, melt cheese, fry bacon, and deep fry side dishes all in one shot, plus keep it all warm. No beer, sure. No stereo, sure. But all this takes is a small propane canister to turn it into a multifaceted grilling machine.

2. Bose Lifestyle V-Class Home Entertainment System

The plain and simple here, folks, is that you’re going to need big sound. Big. You want everyone to hear every hit, every grunt, and every word of the play by play when the whole thing is going, and one of the best ways to get really, truly choice home theater sound is from Bose. Just about everything I’ve ever heard of Bose is incredible, putting out huge, ultra-clear sound from speakers often no larger than your hand. I use the Bose Lifestyle V-class here, but most of Bose’s systems will do the job, and do it very well. You’ll get 5.1 channel surround sound, 1080p video upscaling for up to six sources, a dock for your iPod, and the capability to distribute audio to as many as 14 different sources. Pipe the pregame show audio outside. Run the game sound in the bathroom so no one ever misses a play, even when all those snacks and beer come back to haunt you. The options are endless, and Bose sound is a great way to watch.

1. Samsung UN60D8000Y LED Television

I sweated on this one. Believe me. I’m personally a projector kind of guy, so suggesting a television wasn’t easy. See, I went with a television on this one for a couple reasons. One, it’s got the number of ports you’ll need to get everything you need hooked up. The refresh rate is better to ensure the least amount of blurring in the playback possible. And this little beauty not only has a 240 Hz refresh rate for smooth images, but also 3D capability, full 1080p playback, and the crowning glory, a 60 inch LED display. There’s a reason this one’s part of Best Buy’s Magnolia collection, which is a mark of serious quality in the home theater market. And when the Super Bowl is over, you’ll be able to get a load of streaming content thanks to the Smart TV aspect of this. A great picture backed up by great sound is going to go a long way to making your Super Bowl party truly, well, great.

And there you have it folks, from pre-game to post-game, from food to drink and the necessary home theater gear to make the game look every bit as good as live, you’ll be needing a substantial quantity of gadgets. And from the functional to the fun, we’ve got a huge list of them right here.

But what do you guys think? Did we miss anything? What gadget makes your Super Bowl experience complete? No matter what you think, we always love hearing from you, so head on down to the comments section and let’s talk Super Bowl!

all pics copyright their owners.

Samsung plans to get these into volume production starting by the end of this month, which means you might well be seeing refrigerators with transparent LCD displays hit your electronics store of choice by, oh, Labor Day or so, possibly even earlier. The display itself, meanwhile, not only allows you to look inside the fridge without opening the door, but also offers up a 1366 x 768 resolution and a 4500 : 1 contrast ratio with a color reproduction range around 70 percent, making this not necessarily a home theater display but certainly more than good enough for basic information presentation, as that’s about the same resolution as some laptop displays offer.

We all know that opening the refrigerator door to study the contents is a move that wastes plenty of energy, but is downright necessary in order to actually use the device. However, with this technology, not only will you be able to look inside at will without need to open the door (however, based on the images, it seems some kind of light will be on at all times, though if that’s an LED light it may not be burning a lot of juice. Plus, having the LCD display allows you to do things like access recipes from your refrigerator, as well as perform a variety of other home automation tasks, assuming the necessary networking is in place. Though this fridge doesn’t seem to offer those capabilities, at least at present, it’s good to see that we’re getting a start down that road.

No prices or release dates are available as yet, though, but if they’re going to start production the end of January, I can’t imagine it taking too much longer to get them to market. You don’t just make stuff and let the inventory sit if you want to make money.

So what do you guys think here? Clever idea or a gimmick to sell refrigerators at inflated prices? No matter what your call, the comments section is waiting for you below!

The ThinQ and HeMS systems that LG will be showing at the big show bring out a variety of extra features for the home automation enthusiasts out there, like inventory management and power supply management. They actually announced these back at last year’s CES event, but now, they’ll be actually showing off some completed hardware with some new tricks too. They’ll be showing off how the devices can connect to your televisions, smartphones and computers to perform their various tricks. The HeMS (Home Energy Management System) allows you to not only monitor your home’s power usage, but actually–assuming you have a smart grid in your area, which most places don’t yet–schedule your devices to run on off-peak hours and thus save you a bit of cash when the electric bill arrives. The ThinQ system, meanwhile, allows for the wi-fi and ZigBee connections necessary to do all these nifty things, including checking on just how much food is left in the fridge without having to actually open a door to look.

But the clear winner has to be the Blast Chiller system, as evidenced by the fact that it actually took a Best of Innovations award. This is built into the door compartments of LG’s French door-style fridges and will chill a 12 ounce can from room temperature to rather cold in just five minutes, which is great for those of us who enjoy buying canned beverages in quantity but hate waiting for the fridge to make them cool, or don’t trust our memory to pull a can out of the freezer before it solidifies.

Seems like a pretty impressive set of options, even if some of them presuppose technology that doesn’t exist yet. Still though, I wouldn’t mind a Blast Chiller in every refrigerator. But what about you guys? Seem like some good ideas out of LG? Or does this look more like a waste of time and effort in development to you? No matter what you think, hit the comments section below and fill us in!

Or more specifically, it comes from Samsung and Lowe’s along with Jimmie Johnson on behalf of his Jimmi Johnson Foundation. That being said, this latest offer is not dealing with any LCD-equipped appliances, but rather the possibility of you getting a free Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet.

The offer seems simple enough, buy any “qualifying” Samsung appliance from Lowe’s and you will get the free tablet. The tablet is the Wi-Fi only 7 inch Samsung Galaxy Tab (a $349 value) and the offer is currently in effect and will run through October 3rd. Though, based on the fine print, that free does come with a catch — the tablet is actually free via mail-in rebate. In other words, it appears you have to buy the tablet up front and then get your money back. Not the end of the world, but something you should be prepared for upfront so you can head over to Lowe’s with the necessary cash in hand (or credit on the card).

And moving on, just so we can think of this as something more life changing than getting a free tablet, you will also be able to nominate your favorite school to win a $48,000 Team Up For Technology makeover from the Jimmie Johnson foundation.

Bottom line, while the free tablet offer is certainly not going to convince anyone to run out and buy an appliance they do not need, it should be enough to convince those already shopping to look at Samsung. Plus, the $48,000 makeover is going to be super nice for the school that wins.

First things first though, while a neat idea and something I would probably not turn away — its safe to say that it will not be in my kitchen anytime soon. That being said, the refrigerator is available in two models — one with two vertical doors and one with two vertical doors and two drawers on the bottom. In terms of pricing, the two door model is $2,699 and the two door and two drawer model is $3,499. And for those with that in their budget, the fridge can be found at national retailers here in the US including Lowe’s and Best Buy.

As for the fridge itself, it of course keeps your food cold and/or frozen and it will be able to dispense both ice and water from the door, however what makes this unique is sitting above the water dispenser — an 8 inch display. Plus, something that you cannot see from looking, built-in Wi-Fi.

Yup, these refrigerators pack and 8 inch display, built-in Wi-Fi and apps. The apps are currently limited to just a few including Photos, Calendar, Memos, Epicurious, WeatherBug, AP News, Twitter and Pandora. And in addition to the apps, the display also shows off highlights such as the current time and date, the temperature inside your freezer and the temperature inside the fridge.

Image credit: CrunchGear

As far as the app selection, these seem to make sense given the situation, especially considering a fridge is a common place to pass notes and messages between family member. But in this case instead of hanging a note with a magnet, it can be written on the built-in display using the Memo app. Otherwise, while we could not find anything on this, we have to wonder how good the sound would be when it comes time to crack some Pandora.

Bottom line, this is simply cool. But in the same breath I will say this, I would much rather buy a less expensive fridge and a tablet that I can take with me and use when I am not standing in front of the fridge. Of course, throw a barcode scanner on this and allow it to email me when I am running out of something then I may reconsider.

Image credit: CrunchGear

The news comes more as a teaser as compared to a full announcement, however we can tell you that Samsung is going to be unveiling the “Refrigerator with Apps” on June 21st at a special press event in New York City.

According to Samsung, the Refrigerator with Apps is able to “organize more than just food” and catchphrase aside, the fridge will come with features to include support for apps, Wi-Fi connectivity and an 8 inch LCD display. Oh, and how can we forget, the Refrigerator with Apps will be a side by side model with removable Slide And Go Shelves. Otherwise, some of the apps that Samsung have told us about include Google Calendar, Weather Bug, AP News, Epicurious, Pandora and a Picasa Photo slide show. And that about sums up the details that we have so far.

Of course, while interesting sounding — we are unsure of when the Refrigerator with Apps will come available or how much it will end up costing. And lastly, for those super into kitchen appliances, Samsung also plans to unveil some other goodies for their 2011 product showcase including;

• New ranges like the Flex Duo Oven, a CES 2011 Eco-Design Honoree,  and Samsung’s first-ever gas range
• A new laundry line-up with the high capacity front load washers with PowerFoam™ technology and Samsung’s first top-load washer with the largest capacity in its class

So, how about it — who wants their refrigerator to have a built in display, Wi-Fi connectivity and apps? Me, it sounds interesting and almost has me drawn in, but then again, I have a tablet that works well in the kitchen. Plus, while this sounds lazy, it sort of sounds like I would simply have another set of apps to update and manage.

With Gorenje iChef touchscreen display your full blown oven can operate much the same way the microwave does with 65 different present buttons that don’t make you input a time and temperature but rather you simply touch the screen for roast pork and be on your way.

There are also as many as 150 slots that you can pre-program for your own recipes as well as a way to cook in three different stages. The Gorenje iChef oven is expected to be launched in Europe this spring and it won’t be long after that before the oven is released in the United States.

Yes, that’s exactly what you’re looking at in the picture above–Samsung’s new wi-fi capable refrigerator. It comes with an eight inch LCD touchscreen built into the door, as well as the Twin Cooling Plus system to keep fresh fruits and vegetables fresher longer. But the key feature here is the wi-fi capability that lets you use that eight  inch touchscreen to go surfing around while you’re at the refrigerator.

Now, some would step in here and say, sure, this isn’t a terrible idea. Get recipes fast and easy with all the power of the internet, leave easily updated notes and reminders, check your calendar, get the day’s comic strips, check the weather forecast while you’re getting the kids ready for school, crack off an email for you to pick something up out on the road; there are easily hundreds of options available to you here.

It comes in two versions–the above-mentioned RF4289 and the slightly smaller RF3289, and both of them have the same screen and wireless internet features. Pricing isn’t as yet mentioned, and you’ll only be able to find this in Canada to kick things off.

And indeed, maybe it only looks strange on the outside. But still…telling people you have a refrigerator with wireless internet access is sure to get some eyebrows shooting straight up. And even as bizarre as this sounds, it’s definitely got a lot of useful ideas attached to it, so if you’re looking for a way to keep your food and your information clearly organized in the same place, you may well want to pick up an RF4289, or even an RF3289.

We’ve seen beer fetching robots before, but never one quite so entertaining as this. Basically, it’s a home-brew (no pun intended!) combination of a refrigerator, an ioBridge IO-204 (which is described as “a physical I/O board which connects web services”, which basically means you can in turn access the ioBridge via a mobile device), and a 50 PSI hydraulic cannon, which is built into the fridge. The device is then connected to a webcam, and both webcam and cannon are accessible via iPhone. From there, you will then be able to sight in the cannon with the webcam, press “fire” on the iPhone, and soon enough, a can of beer will launch forth, frosty cold from the refrigerator, to find its mark no doubt astonished by the fact that he or possibly she just caught a can of beer that had been shot by a refrigerator.

There’s even a menu on the iPhone display that will let you select various types of beer, depending on what you have loaded in, and will even send tweets about successful sorties, allowing you a record of just how much beer has been consumed during your evening by counting the tweets. Future improvements slated for the device include a timer so people can tell how long until launch, and a set of crosshairs on the iPhone interface to give more precise targeting of the beer launches.

Needless to say reaction to the device’s existence has been overwhelmingly positive, and for those of you dying for a conversation piece unlike any other at your New Year’s Eve party, well, the iPhone controlled beer cannon may well be the best you can do short of coating an entire unicorn in gold and turning it into a fountain in your front yard.

Guys like neat stuff.

And by “neat stuff”, Barry means things that are unnecessarily complex, or things that go fast or make loud noises or knock stuff down or blow stuff up. So if you’re shopping for a guy this Christmas, and you probably are, take heart. Because what we’ve got here today is a guide to gadgets for guys–our Gadgets For Him gift guide.

Chocolate Ammo $9.97

It may come as a surprise to persons of certain other genders, but guys like chocolate too. In fact, guys find chocolate downright tasty. It’s not the same experience as it is for the ladies, or so I’m told, but chocolate is good stuff for guys. But guys don’t just like chocolate for its own sake–if you can improve on the experience for a guy, then do! That’s why I’m bringing you chocolate ammo from the folks out at The Sportsman’s Guide. It comes in twenty-round cases, and the cases are reusable for holding small things (small bits of hardware, spare change, what have you) once the “ammo” is “expended”. So for a sweet price, you can throw a sweet treat your guy’s way.

Magic Bullet Express Blender / Mixer System $49.88

Head on over to Walmart for this one because it’s the best price I’ve found over half a dozen places–but what this is going to do is give your guy a way to be a whiz in the kitchen without actually having to learn how to cook.  If you’ve seen the infomercials for the Magic Bullet blender system, you’ve watched these people cook things, relentlessly, breakfast, lunch and dinner in the same half hour segment. They go from omelets to muffins to pasta and nachos in the space of seconds, and all with nary a pause or anything even vaguely resembling difficulty. It may not be that easy for your guy, not at first anyway, but considering it also packs in a book of “10 Second” recipes, your guy may well be well on his way toward making incredible meals. Pair this with the next item and get ready for some killer breakfasts.

WowBacon Microwave Bacon Cooker And Savenor’s Bacon Society Membership (one year) $150.00

If there’s one thing a guy knows, it’s that bacon is awesome. And while plenty of guys aren’t fond of cooking, exceptions will often be made for bacon, one of the greatest of all meats. So be kind to your guy of choice and give him the greatest possible joy: lots of bacon and a way to cook it easily. While the WowBacon Microwave Bacon Cooker by itself is a nice and inexpensive Christmas gift, allowing him an easy way to rapidly cook as many as six strips of bacon at one time, you might as well go the distance and give him a way to fuel that bacon machine. See, the Bacon Society from Savenor’s offers multiple varieties of bacon, sent every month for a year. It’s not quite the Bacon of the Month Club, but it’s the next best thing. Send Peppered Bacon, Smoked Wild Boar, Cob Smoked Bacon and more, and keep your guy in bacon for as long as he likes.

24: The Complete Series $180

What can I say? Guys like to watch stuff blow up and stuff go bang, and Kiefer Sutherland brought huge amounts of that throughout the various seasons of 24. And now, joy of joys, they’re all together in one big whopping box set. You’ll shell out quite a bit for this one, but considering that you’ll not only get all eight seasons of 24, but you’ll also get 24: Redemption, and a bonus disc full of commentary for a total of, get this, 57 discs, you’ll get a whole lot for your money.  And for the guy in your life, it’s probably perfect. Put one of the biggest guy shows of the last ten years all in one place for your guy of choice.

Panasonic Vortex Arc Shaver $180

If there’s one thing every guy needs, it’s a way to keep the whiskers trimmed. Not everyone looks good with facial hair, and that means a regular hit with a razor. Sure, you can buy a sack full of disposables for a whopping five bucks or less, but sometimes you want more than that. You want something like the Panasonic Vortex Arc Shaver.  The Panasonic Vortex Arc Shaver can operate in wet or dry conditions, so whether you favor a shave in the shower or a shave directly after, you’re equally well-represented. And the ultra-thin foil blades guarantee a super-close shave. You’ll get an LCD status display for all the salient on your razor’s functions, a pop-up trimmer, and an automatic cleaning system that keeps your razor in prime function.

Vuzix Wrap 920 Video Eyewear $250

Chances are your guy has gadgets. Chances are your guy has at least one portable media player. And so he already knows how tough it is to get along with the teeny-tiny screen and have to suffer through squinting at his favorite YouTube videos. But now, you can put some extra punch in his portable media with the Vuzix Wrap 920 video eyewear. These are the video sunglasses you’ve often heard about, with a couple of earbuds depending from the stems of the glasses. Wearing the glasses, meanwhile, looks like a 67 inch screen from about ten feet out. The video quality isn’t the best–these aren’t designed to replace the television, after all–but considering they’re geared toward the movie watcher on the go, well, you’ll come out pretty far ahead.

Houdini II Frosty Fridge Rocker Recliner $599

We’ve covered a lot of home theater gear here, but one thing that’s clear is your guy needs a place to sit and enjoy all that home theater gear. That’s where this wonder comes in: the Houdini II Frosty Fridge Rocker Recliner.  See, the reason they call it that is three fold: It rocks. It reclines. And it’s got a refrigerator hiding in one of the armrests. But that’s hardly all–it’s also carrying two massage zones and a heated back to help loosen those tensed back muscles. It may well be the ultimate in recliner joy: have a cold drink and a heated massage all in one place.

And so, there you have it, folks–seven great gifts for the guy in your life this Christmas. Some of them are a little pricey, and some of them come in real cheap, but all of them will go over well with your guy, because they’re all geared just for him.

What has me so thoroughly unnerved about the Electrolux Infinity I-Kitchen is the fact that it’s a refrigerator with a Linux-based 800 x 480 touchscreen computer built into it.  The computer, meanwhile, is packing a surprisingly robust 400Mhz Freescale i.MX25 SoC processor similar to those used in cars.

And what this computer is doing embedded in a refrigerator door is running a user interface that allows your fridge access to a series of apps, like notes, calendars, address books, photo albums and recipes, as well as controls for the refrigerator proper like temperature controls.

Linux fans, don’t worry–the source code has already been shared out for future improvements from the community, which is a fairly enlightened move on Electrolux’s part. And sadly, there is no word yet on things like Internet connectivity (if your fridge comes with 3G access in the near future, I would not be at all surprised), ports to upload things to your fridge (USB? SD? N-O, at least for now.), or the big stuff like pricing and availability.

On the one hand, I see the logic in something like this. The fridge has been a family gathering point since, well, since refrigerators were invented. Putting your grocery list on the fridge door with a magnet is scarcely out of line, so why not put it in touchscreen form? Why not use it as a family media server in which notes are left in individual inboxes–surely this isn’t so far removed from the old way of doing things.

On the other hand, all I can think when I see that is, great, one MORE thing to go wrong on a refrigerator and force me to buy a replacement. But still–if you’ve got a family, something like the Infinity I-Kitchen isn’t a terrible idea.

The free Intelligentsia Coffee app gives information and details about different kinds of coffee blends, grinds and variants. The app even provides step by step instructions on preparation and brewing for different kinds of devices. The app includes live-updates of coffees available from the Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea company, information on the best filters to use, and even a brewing timer.

If you’d rather have someone make and serve coffee for you, the app also has maps and directions for all Intelligentsia locations throughout the US and Canada.

Of course, the app is meant for Intelligentsia coffees, but that doesn’t stop us from adopting to any other coffee, doesn’t it?

When she was 21, designer Emily Cummins invented a portable refridgerator that used water evaporation as a cooling agent. Her device basically looks like a cylinder with mesh and holes all over, but there’s more to this gadget than meets the eye.

The solar-powered fridge consists of a sealed metal inner cylinder that contains the food items to be cooled. The outer cylinder, meanwhile, can be made of any solid material like wood or plastic, with holes drilled on the surface. The gap in between is then filled with any material that can be soaked with water (sand, soil, wool).

When the water evaporates, it takes with it the heat from the filler material and the inner cylinder. It’s an exothermic reaction. If you remember your elementary science correctly, that means heat is escaping, and the object inside is cooled down.

Simply add more water when moisture runs low, and you’re good to go.

This is certainly cool gear you can take along to camping trips. But it’s already being used by thousands in developing communities in Africa that don’t have electricity–certainly a more noble application of such technology.

7. Television

Now, who in their right mind wouldn’t mind a television that can change channels, adjust volume, display menu information or even turn on and off with the sheer power of thought alone? The good part about this is that it only needs a certain number of commands to operate (volume up / down, channel up / down, and so on) so programming such an interface may not be difficult. And if you refine it further by hooking a DVR to it, or your whole home theater, well, pretty soon you’re to the point where you don’t even have to move to watch television. And isn’t that really the ultimate end point?

6. Microwave

Again, you don’t need a whole lot of controls here, mostly just numbers, but thinking your microwave settings into life by just concentrating ends really well. Open the door, slip your dinner in, think a number and boom–you got hot food. Great while watching the television you think into existence, but you’d have to be careful, otherwise you’ll accidentally heat your soup for 1408 minutes while settling in to watch Stephen King.

5. Stereo

Much like the television, you don’t necessarily need a whole lot of controls to make it work, but once you really get it going you turn the stereo system in your house into a whole new level of experience. I mean, sure, it’s pretty good if you get it to the point where you think it on, or alter the volume by thought, but imagine patching in, say, a hard drive or MP3 player. Then you get to the point where you can think “I want to hear Mambo Number 5″ or even “What’s that one song, goes like this, na na NA nanana naaaa…” and have it react accordingly. And that makes for a whole new experience, where your background music changes according to your mood.

4. Desktop Computer

There’s a panoply of things your standard desktop computer can do, so getting this into thought control would be difficult but a coup unlike most any other. Imagine the sheer amount of things you’d get done if you could type into a text box just by thought. Log into your accounts, go to web addresses, type letters, compose novels…allowing the computer to operate at the speed of thought instead of the speed of carpal tunnel-plagued wrists might well trigger a cultural revolution the likes of which mankind has never seen before.

Or at least make World of Warcraft a truly immersive experience.

3. Car

If I can’t get a car that drives itself, the next best thing would have to be a car that controls by thought unaided. And that may well be the simplest to do yet–think about it. There’s only a handful of controls in a car anyway. Turn left, turn right, slow down, stop, speed up, back up. Sure, there’s other things like wipers, lights and radio but there’s no reason that can’t be controlled by hand while you’re thinking. So imagine a day in which you watch the GPS with one eye, the road with another, and think yourself down the road.

2. Thermostat

There are only two controls on a thermostat: up, or down. But imagine the environment in which you can feel cold one second and the furnace kicks on. Or you’re feeling hot, and the air conditioner fires up. It may well represent the greatest advancement in human comfort since, well, since the furnace and the air conditioner. Even better, they’d represent a much more dynamic experience–if the furnace or air conditioner only come on when you need them. No longer do you maintain a temperature when the house is empty–you only turn on the heater or air conditioner when you feel the need for them. It might involve less power use, because you wouldn’t have it too hot or too cold.

1. Water fixtures

I don’t know how many times I’ve set out to take a shower and discovered the water was too hot or too cold. And most every night, I reach down to adjust the taps because I’ve gotten used to the temperature. When the day comes that I can put up the water temperature a degree or two just by thought, it will be a terrific day. And it’s not just in the bathroom that this would be valuable–consider out in the kitchen sink. Filling up the sink for a load of dishes could be accomplished remotely. If the water is too hot cold would flood in the moment my hand touched the meniscus. Sure, many people have dishwashers–even I do–but there’s nothing quite like saving water and washing manually, especially when you don’t have a whole lot of dishes to begin with.

And that’s the list of the top seven things I’d like to see controlled by thought. Some of them are closer than others, and some may never arrive. But any of them that do arrive stand to substantially change our entire way of life. And that’s seldom a bad thing.

8. Robotic waiters

At the Cafe 80s, when Marty poses as his own son in a bid to fend off an incident that destroys his family, Marty runs into a couple familiar faces as the Ayatollah Khomeini and Ronald Reagan vie to take his drink order. This is actually not too far off, as we discovered earlier with a robot that could take drink orders at a touchtop table and then bring your orders by moving through a crowd. Maybe it won’t talk like Michael Jackson in his “Beat It” years, but it’s a distinct possibility.

7. Pizza Hut rehydrators

The first time I saw this thing, I wanted one. When Pizza Hut pizzas come in what look like Mylar packages the size of your hand and can be expanded into larges in a matter of seconds, it opens up a lot of exciting possibilities–like storing enough pizza in your freezer to last for an entire long winter. While this particular tech is already in use on some levels–especially for campers–it’s not quite this readily available.

6. Credible video calling

Watching Marty’s future boss Mr. Fujitsu–the Jitz to his subordinates–rail into him made me realize that our current grade of video calling is pretty low-rent by comparison. Stuttery frames, dropped bits here and there…it just doesn’t work near as well. However, since we actually have the technology, it’s all a matter of refination at this point. Hopefully in five years’ time we can get it all ironed out.

5. Automated fruit gardens

Home grown fruit is a great thing. To take a quick walk into the back yard and pluck an apple from your own tree is an exhilarating sort of freedom, even if it can be difficult to grow your own food, especially at first. The Garden Center fruit dispenser does an excellent job of bringing vitamin-rich fruit to the dinner table and make it easily accessible. How it works, however, is something of a mystery…growing plants in a highly contained environment like a ceiling is a real puzzle. It’s possible, I suppose, especially with certain design changes to a house like a skylight to let in sun or grow lights, and a bit of water piping to keep the plants watered. No clue where this is on the old tech tree, or how far we are from having one.

4. Mr. Fusion

Imagine if you will a device that can take your garbage, break it down into its component atoms, and then smash those atoms together to create fusion power, and do it all in your very own home. This is the basic principle behind Mr. Fusion, and a goal that scientists have been pushing for for years. They’re still a ways off, especially when converting it for home use, but the principles are in place. It’s just the execution that’s giving us the problems.

3.Holographic advertising

This is actually closer than we think. Consider if you will the recent moves toward glasses-free 3D imaging. Even holography has made some advancements. Sure, we’re a long way from having Jaws actually lunge out of a rooftop and engulf a passing patron, but as was the case with video calling, we have the tech, we just need to refine it. Another one of those great items that’s closer than we think.

2. Hover converters

Perhaps the second most eagerly anticipated item, the ability to convert your car into a hovercraft, while also leaving its road capabilities in tact, may well be the most prized of all by some. Destroying the airline industry, mass transit, and several other industries in the process, hover conversion that allows you almost magical powers over gravity is something that we’re nowhere near. While we do have hovercraft technology–most anyone with sufficient cash can buy their own, and some have even been made with leaf blowers–but having a hovercraft capable of higher-altitude travel is a long shot.

1. Hoverboards

Easily the most sought after of the list–kids have approached these with almost universal longing from the moment they saw them–the hoverboard is one of those items that’s still in progress. We hear something about them occasionally, but it usually winds up to be some vaporware or string of promises ready to be broken. Most hovercrafts we currently have are entirely too large to be sufficiently shrunk down to make personal-sized hoverboards. And the idea of using magnetic levitation is possible, but would require a track to effectively run. This may well be farther off than the hover-capable car.

Some parts of Back to the Future II are already here. Other parts are easily attainable by 2015. But some look to exceed our grasp for some time to come, and all this does is show the incredible predictive power of science fiction. So that’s the list of the top eight things I want someone working on from Back To The Future II. Hopefully, we’ll see the stragglers make it across the finish line by 2015.

all pics copyright their owners.

The pancake in question, along with the pan, has been outfitted with a variety of sensors that allow the researchers behind the project to track the force measures and the like. Using a method called “kinesthetic teaching”, the robot first sees a human perform the desired action, and then through practice and regular feedback, the robot eventually learns to perform the action as needed.

The biggest takeaway so far for the robot is that, when you launch a pancake off the pan, you need a stiffer arm, but successfully catching the pancake requires a softer, more yielding touch.

Obviously, it’s going to be a while before anybody gets to have the pancake-flipping robot in their homes (or places of business, a move that should have most breakfast-restaurant workers terrified), but the idea of buying one robot to make hosts of pancakes likely has business owners very interested.

Yes, I know it almost looks like someone drilled a hole in an Ebook reader and ran water through it, but this faucet’s packing a lot of control.

You’ve got the normal stuff in there, the faucet controls, of course–but you’ve likely not seen much like the capability to immediately switch between hot and cold water, allow you to specific the exact temperature of water you want (which in turn is displayed on the faucet), and even receive warning that the water temperature is getting into the scalding range.

It may seem trivial, but considering how many small children are burned in bathtub accidents every year (estimated at between 4000 and 5000), it’s definitely the kind of thing that makes some sense. And imagine moving this out to the kitchen, where you know at a glance how hot your dishwater is.

There’s no word yet on when these will be available here–if ever–but it just won a red dot design award, so there’s some chance this might catch on.

The Oasis Smart Kitchen Countertop brings together a camera with depth perception and a pico projector to not only tell what you just put on it, but also display a variety of information about that object. For instance, put a packet of chicken breasts down on the countertop and the countertop will in turn tell you how much fat and calories and such is contained therein, but also offer up a variety of hints for handling it, and recipes for what to do with it.

Even better, if you set a green pepper down on that countertop, you’ll also get a set of recipes designed to blend the chicken and the green pepper. It even comes with a timer and a shopping list function so you can tell what to get at the store to finish out the recipes your countertop provided.

It’s still in the prototype stage right now, so it’ll be a while before you can get one of these installed in your home. Still though, for home-based foodies, this is a pretty exciting development.

Yes, the picture you’re seeing above is no photoshopping or similar manipulation. That mousepad is grilling a hamburger. Owing to its construction of the aforementioned Teflon-coated steel, it can thus not only provide you with a flat, smooth surface to run your mouse over, but also provide you with a flat, smooth surface to grill meat.

Admittedly, having a grill-ready mousepad may be more something to brag about than get actual use out of, but indeed, it will perk up your next LAN party like nothing else. Imagine the looks on people’s faces as you grill up a cheeseburger, hose the grill off and then start playing Call of Duty 4 on it.

And if you want that kind of jaw-dropping fun, pick one up for $29.95.

You’ve got to love the concept of going green, folks; eco-hippie granola sunshine and moondust about saving the planet aside, it does a great job of saving you cash on your monthly bills, and when it saves money, it’s definitely a good thing. The Home Energy Controller does that by doing pretty much what it says on the box: it hooks to smart appliances and thermostats and allows you to see just where the power’s going, and in turn, what you can turn off or throttle back on to save power, and thus, money. You can, for example, dim the lights in summer when air conditioning sucks more juice, or cue your pool heater to start at night when power is cheaper.

Of course, it’s not just about power–the Home Energy Controller will also allow you to watch videos via Mediafly, or browse an app store included on the tablet, or, as it’s rumored, use it to make phone calls. They’re slated to cost $900, though there’s some expectation the price will drop before release due to power company subsidies (or possibly even federal tax credits–that’s been known to happen with power-saving stuff). So if you’re interested in saving power, check out Cisco’s new Android tablet!

The iGrill carries a modern and sleek design that accommodates your iPod and blare out music from your iPod. If you don’t own an iPod, the iGrill also has provisions for other plug-n-play devices with various media support like MP3, MP4 and CD formats. Paired with built-in speakers, outdoor grilling just moved to another level as people will no longer have to deal with boring grill duties while preparing some good outdoor food.

A propane tank and four AA batteries is all you will need to make the iGrill work. As you can see, this is a portable grill with an iPod dock that you can use in your very own backyard or picnic areas. Depending on what you want, take it anywhere.

The iGrill comes in variants of red, white, black and silver. It costs $130 in case you are keen on getting one.

This new concept stands to compete against the growing popularity of iPod docks, adding a twist of sorts as far as enjoying your favorite brew at your own convenience.

And while adding coffee brewing does seem to be unique for this particular concept, the features don’t stop there. It will also come with a QR-code scanner which will be able to read barcode-like tags while rendering some tunes at the same time. Not a bad idea but it may get its share of criticism.

The intent is obviously aimed at the kitchen setting. And though the cost for such a device has not been bared, you can bet that some consumers may not be too keen on investing in such a concept. For one, it will not come cheap. The idea is indeed something curious but overall, not an immediate need for wise spending consumers or even techies.

This new kitchen concept offers various control options for the home owner, including the control of water temperature and the flow of water coming out from faucets. Though this new concept seems more inclined for the kitchen setting, this is one concept that could very well be adaptable to home bathrooms as well.

The whole kitchen tap concept is milled from Corian and also relies on how fast your hands react. This is one neat concept that will surely be something to watch out, especially for people looking for advanced designs to integrate with their modern homes going into the future.

The MIT Cornucopia Food Printer includes a series of cartridge-style ingredient canisters, a loader tray for these canisters and a base unit that acts as both a mixing bowl and a heating unit.  The user sets the ingredient cartridges on the loader tray, selects the recipe from a front-stationed UI, then the machine does the rest of the work.  It adds ingredients in a proper sequence and mixes and heats them as needed.

Sound appetizing?  We didn’t think so either, but the MIT Cornucopia Food Printer is deserving of recognition.  In short order restaurants, assembly-line style food is the norm, where a series of ingredients (that may appear unappetizing on their own) are merged in a rather machine-like process that yields a final entree.  When you break it down to that level, is the MIT Cornucopia Food Printer really that different?  It may be difficult to imagine what entree would be created solely from liquid ingredients, but the possibilities are quite numerous.  Any new technology stands to be refined and developed, so we’re excited to see just how far this food prep concept can be taken.

Google’s Android is slowly showing up everywhere. It was the hot mobile OS of 2009, and has made appearances in GPS units and even netbooks, and now, Android is heading to your kitchen and laundry rooms. A company called Touch Revolution is planning to bring Android to washing machines and microwaves.

Touch Revolution’s NIM1000 module will be the controls for various home appliances, and Touch Revolution has been demoing the units in the aforementioned washing machines and microwaves. For washing machines and dryers, the NIM1000 can provide touch-screen controls, stain removal guides, and washing guides, based on data provided by your clothing tags.

For microwaves, Touch Revolution is promoting the NIM1000 as a ‘kitchen command center’. The NIM1000 will be able to connect to Pandora Internet Radio, display pictures and surf the web – you know, for when you’re microwaving something big that takes almost five minutes.

Do we need something like this? It’s great tech, for sure, but Android-enabled home appliances will likely carry a heavy premium when they first come out. No word on when we can expect these NIM1000 to start showing up in your kitchen and laundry rooms. Props to Gizmodo for the picture.

When it comes to keeping your precious bottles of wine stored in just the right conditions, nothing beats an electric cooling system. They allow you to set the perfect temperature and climate conditions that insure your wine is at its best when you are ready to serve. The folks at Siemens have taken the wine cooler to an entirely different level with their latest creation, the KF24WA40 built-in wine cabinet.

Elevating the built-in wine cooler to an almost artistic level, Siemens’ sharp-looking KF24WA40 showcases a clean line design that combines glass and stainless steel in a unit that blends seamlessly with your existing d?cor. Another cool feature (no pun intended) is the antibacterial interior that will make sure that any unwanted guests are quickly shown the door.

The KF24WA40 also sports a unique touch-sensitive handle that causes the interior light to come on as soon as you grab it. That way you can showcase your collection without having to open the cooler and waste energy. The cooler showcases a set of high-end aluminum shelves and translucent plastic half shells that are sure to make the perfect companions to your fine wine collection. Other key features of this wine storage cabinet include:

• LED temperature display
• Adjustable temperature range from 6C to 14C (42.8F – 57.2F)
• Double-insulated frameless glass doors with UV resistant glass and stainless steel
• Total capacity of 63 bottles
• 8 shelves including 5 height-adjustable ones.
• Measuring only H122 x W54 x T54-cm (48 x 21.3 x 21.3-in)

The Siemens KF24WA40 built-in wine cooler sells for around 1,600EUR ($2,238).

The world is full of boring ice cubes, and I, for one, am tired of it. They just sit there in your ice bucket, staring back at you smugly, almost defiantly, as if they know that they’re doomed to play second fiddle to whatever beverage they call home. If only there was some way to bring sexy back to your bucket, some way to add some mojo to these oft-forsaken chillers. Well, now you can breathe a sigh of relief because your ice cubes can now have their own personal rave courtesy of UxSight.

I’m not sure if this is the world’s first LED color-changing ice bucket, but I would have a difficult time believing there needs to be more than one. The name says it all. It’s an ice bucket that changes colors. If that isn’t enough to get your juices flowing (and how can it not be?) this thing even comes with a remote control; for those times when you simply can’t get close enough to your color-changing ice bucket to adjust your ambiance. And this delicious device has all you would expect from your color-changing ice bucket:

• Lightweight sturdy plastic construction
• Single or multi-color light display options
• Adjustable brightness and speed
• Rechargeable via AC power adapter

Never again will your ice bucket just sit there, an inanimate object de arte. Now you can have both a party and cold beverages wherever you happen to be with the color-changing LED ice bucket from UxSight. And before you begin to think that this kind of illuminated luxury must only be the plaything of the super-rich, let me make your day. You can get your hands on this must-have gadget for $67.69 (interesting price) at UxSight.com. My only advice; you’d better hurry before supplies run out.

For some obscure reason we decided to feature the Demy Kitchen Safe Recipe Reader on e-Potpourri as opposed to here on TFTS back when it was initially unveiled but we thought we’d offer up the news that its now available to pre-order in the US here on TFTS for those that need a little culinary assistance in the kitchen department.

The Demy Kitchen Safe Recipe Reader comes with a 7″ touchscreen kitchen safe display offering auto landscape/portrait orientation depending on positioning and can hold up to 10,000 recipes (5,000 if loading recipes with imagery) though, out of the box, you’ll ‘only’ get 250 pre-loaded recipes to start you off – which, let’s face it, is enough to be going on with. Of course, should you exhaust the recipes initially loaded you can easily add your own or opt to download other’s creations via a Demy Key Ingredient account online courtesy of the Demy Touchscreen Recipe Reader’s USB connectivity (obviously you’ll have to hook up the device to your net connection via a PC first).

With additional highlights including an inbuilt kitchen timer utility and a conversion calculator, the Demy Touchscreen Recipe Reader has just become available to pre-order in the US from Amazon for just shy of $300.

The DishDrawer, the signature product from Fisher and Paykel has a new avatar in which it gains height and space but looks sleeker. The new “Tall DishDrawer” offers features such as an ergonomic design and efficient use of water, energy, and detergents. It has been designed specifically for the North American consumer market and it is expected to be available from Spring 2009. The DishDrawer was introduced in 1997 and since then has undergone various upgrades; it has sold more than a million pieces. As of yet there is no information on the pricing of Tall DishDrawer.

New features added to the DishDrawer include -

1) Space for 13″ plates in the top drawer.
2) The racking system features a new design with vertially adjustable cup racks and folding tines on the plate racks.
3) Easier installation and a completely new look.

A neat energy-saving feature of the Tall DishDrawer is that you can load it with as little as 1.98 gallons of water in order to run it on half load. In this mode, the Tall Dishdrawer uses only half the amount of energy, water, and detergent as compared to other dishwashers.

The Bunn My Cafe Single-Serve Coffee / Tea pod brewer is a classy product that adds both utility and glamor to your kitchen. With this stylish commercial grade pod brewer in your house you can treat yourself to the tastes of a wide variety of coffees and teas in their purest form.

A hot cuppa tea in less than a minute at a strength of your choice with the help of the 9-setting brew control for up to a 12-ounce cup. No need to refill the 46-ounce water reservoir with the automatic model which is connected to the waterline. For tea lovers, a patented pulse-brew technology mimics the steeping action that is essential for preparing tea.

A patented spray head action for extracting all the coffee flavors and accompanying aroma and presenting a frothy brew in 30 seconds flat. The pod holder, reservoir/lid and drip tray assembly can be cleaned in a dishwasher. A high-altitude model lets you brew your flavorful cup of tea or coffee at a height of 4,000 feet and above. A handy feature, just in case you get transferred to La Paz or to a ski resort in Switzerland.

Dimensions: 13.6” H x 8” W x 10.5” D.